School-desk.



L. H. CAMPBELL.

SCHOOL DESK.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 24, 1907.

Patented Jan. 19, 1909.

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I BY 1 202i) m L. H. CAMPBELL.

SCHOOL DESK.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 24, 1907.

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Patented m 19, 1

2 SHEETS-SHE A TTOE/YE Y w W? amd/vfiww LEONARD H. CAMPBELL, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

SCHOOL-DESK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 19, 1909.

Application filed August 24, 1907. Serial No. 389,968.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEONARD H. (1mm BELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Providence, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in School-Desks, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

Like reference numerals indicate like parts.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved school desk in its closed position. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of said desk with its cover moved to its second position. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of said desk with its cover moved to its third position. Fig. 1 is a perspective view of said desk with its cover moved to its fourth position. Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the desk cover opened. Fig. 6 is a top plan view of said desk as seen on line a; a of Fig. 9, the cover of the desk being removed. Fig. 7 is a side elevation of said desk. Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the desk cover and cross piece. Fig. 9 is a top plan View of the adjustable ledge or stop. Fig. 10 is a sectional view of the desk cover and said ledge as seen on line .2 2 of Fig. 9. Fig. 11 is a plan view of the metallic socket piece which receives the lugs of said adjustable ledge. Fig. 12 is a sectional view of the desk cover and lodge when the latter is elevated.

My invention relates to school desks and consists of the novel construction and combination of the several parts as hereinafter described and claimed.

The principal purpose of this invention is to provide a school desk with a cover which may be placed in either of several positions at will for the comfort and convenience of the scholar in different kinds of school work.

The body of the desk is shown at 1 in the various figures and may be in the usual, or other desired shape. It is supported by standards 2, as heretofore common.

Ator near the upper edge of each side piece of the desk body is a slot 8, having three locking seats or sockets 4., 5 and G, the edge of the slots between the seats 1 and 5 and between the seats 5 and 6 being upwardly convexed. A metallic strip 7 covers the upper side of the slot 3 and is let into the top edge of each side piece of the desk body so as to be flush therewith.

A cross piece 8 extends across the desk body, within the same, from side to side, and is connected by spring hinges 9 with the desk cover 10. At each corner of the cross piece 10, on the edge thereof toward the pupil, is a lug or pin 11. Each lug or pin 11 is capable of engagement with either of the seats 1, 5 or (3 of each slot 3 in the side of the desk body, the opposite lug or pin 11, however, always being in engagement with the corresponding seat on the opposite side of the desk.

he rear edge of the cross piece 8 is centrally cut away into a U-shaped slot or opening 2,- and the adjacent edge of the cover 10' is also provided with a similarly shaped slot or opening 18, which, when the cover 10 and cross piece 8 are closed, registers with the slot or opening 12.

A bracket 1& is screwed or otherwise secured to the desk on the back, but within the desk compartment, as illustrated in Fig. 3, and supports a block 15, which has a central socket or aperture, wherein an ink-well 16 is placed.

Near that edge of the cover 10, which is close to the pupil, the cover is slotted across, as shown at 17. This slot 17 is L-shaped in cross section, as shown in Figs. 10 and 12. A ledge or stop 18 comprises a strip of metal, separately shown in Fig. 9, and having at the two front corners the integral lug 19. This lug 19, on each end of the strip 18, extends through a slot 20 in a metallic plate 21, which is fastened by screws 22 to the edge of the cover 10, as seen in Fig. 7 The plate 21 is separately illustrated in Fig. 11. A back ledge 23 extends upwardly from the rear edge of the cover 10.

In Fig. 1 the desk and its parts are in their closed position, at which time the lugs 11 rest in the sockets or seats 4 of the slots 3 in the sides of the desk. The ink-well 16 is accessible through the openings or slots 13 and 12 of the cover 10 and of the cross piece 8, respectively.

If it is desired to bring the desk cover 10 nearer to the scholar, he seizes the projecting ends of the lugs 11, on the opposite sides of the desk, and raising them out of the seats or sockets a of the slots 3 in the two sides of the desk, he moves them simultaneously toward himself, over the adjacent convex surfaces of said slots 3, and lets them down into the sockets or seats 5 of said slots, where they rest in engagement therewith.

- vents the pushing of books or If it is desired to move the desk cover still nearer to the scholar, he seizes the lugs 11, as before, and brings them forward, toward himself, over the adjacent convexities of the slots 3, and seats them in the sockets 6 of said slot 3.

When the lugs 11 are so seated in either of said sockets of the slots 3, the cover 10 is locked from movement forward or backward in its own plane, and cannot move in either of these directions until the lugs 11 are lifted out of their engaging sockets and are moved to some other pair of sockets. In this manner, the cover 10 may be made to assume either of the positions shown in Figs. 1, 2 or 3, either consecutively or from either one to any other of said positions and in either direction.

The purpose of such adjustability of the cover 10 in its own plane is the greater convenience of the scholar in the use of his books, and especially to adapt the desk to the requirements of the scholar with regard to his size,-a slender scholar needing to have the desk cover drawn forward to him, as in Fig. 3, while a scholar, who is thickset, needs more room and prefers to have the desk cover in the position illustrated in Fig. 1.

If it is desired to open the desk cover 10, as seen in F ig. 5, to get access to its contents, or for other purposes, the cover 10 can be opened to an obtuse angle with respect to the cross piece 8 to any desirable extent, against the action of the springs in the hinges 9, but said hinges normally hold the cover 10 in its closed position, except when it is forcibly raised as described. The principal use of the spring hinge is to hold the lugs 11 in the locking sockets of the slots 3 and to prevent said lugs from being accidentally unseated from said sockets.

When the desk cover 10 is in the elevated position shown in Fig. 5, it can be moved to its tilted position, illustrated in Fig. 4:, which position is desirable for drawing and other school work Thus the desk cover may be opened when in either of the closed positions shown in Figs. 1, 2 or 3, and can be tilted from either of said closed positions, as may be desired.

The ledge or front stop 18 usually lies flush with the upper surface of the desk cover 10, as seen in Fig. 10 and in other figures, but whenever necessary to prevent .the books from sliding down along said cover or for any other reason, the ledge 18 is movable to the position shown in Fig. 12, the lugs 19 taking automatically either of the positions seen in Figs. 10 and 12, according to the direction in which said ledge or strip 18 extends. The rear ledge 23 prethe rear end of the desk cover.

By supporting the ink-well 16 on a fixed papers off at 1. In a school desk, the combination of a desk body, having two opposite sides, in each of which is a slot having a plurality of locking sockets on its lower surface; a metallic strip constituting the upper surface of each slot and extending flush with the upper edge of each of said sides; and a desk cover provided with two oppositely arranged lugs, which are movable at will in said slots, respectively, into engagement with either pair of corresponding locking sockets.

2. In a school desk, the combination of a desk body having two opposite sides, in each. of which is a slot, whose lower surface is formed into a plurality of locking sockets with an intervening space; a cross piece having on one edge thereof two oppositely located lugs and mounted movably thereon within the desk body, which lugs are ongageable at will with either corresponding pair of the locking sockets; a desk cover; and spring hinges connecting the desk cover to other edge of the cross piece.

3. In a school desk, the combination of a desk body having two opposite sides, ineach of which is a slot, whose lower surface is formed into a plurality of locking sockets with intervening spaces; a bracket mounted within the desk on the rear side thereof; a block supported by the bracket and having a socket therein; an ink-well in said socket; a cross piece having a central opening on its rear edge and also having two lugs on its. two front corners, on which lugs said cross piece is pivotally mounted within the desk body, andwhich lugs are engageable at will with either corresponding pair of said locking sockets; and a desk cover hinged to said cross piece and having a central opening on its hinged edge, which openings are registrable with each other and'with the socket in said block.

t. In a school desk, the combination of a desk body; an ink-well mounted therein on a fixed support; a cross piece mounted mov ably in the desk body and having an aperture on its rear edge; and a desk cover hinged to the cross piece and having an. aperture on its hinged edge, through which apertures the ink-well is accessible, when the desk is closed. a

5. In a school desk, the combination therewith of a deskcover having a transverse slot on its uppersurfaces; a ledge normally lying in said slot flush with the upper surface of the desk cover; a supportlng piece on each side of the desk cover, having a slot; and a pivot at each end of the ledge mounted loosely in the slot of the adjacent supporting piece.

6. In a school desk, the combination of a desk cover having a transverse L-shaped slot; a ledge having a lag on its two front corners extending longitudinally; and a sup porting piece on each side of the desk cover, having an elongated vertical slot, through which Vertical slots said ledge lugs loosely extend, respectively.

In testimony whereof I a'ffix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LEONARD H. CAMPBELL.

WVitnesses v HOWARD A. LAMPREY, WV RREN R. Pnnen. 

